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A role for ethylene in the phytochrome-mediated control of
vegetative development

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Foo, E and Ross, JJ and Davies, NW and Reid, JB and Weller, JL
(2006)
A role for ethylene in the phytochrome-mediated control of
vegetative development.
The Plant Journal, 46.
pp. 911-921.
ISSN 0960-7412

Abstract

Members of the phytochrome family of photoreceptors play key roles in vegetative plant development,
including the regulation of stem elongation, leaf development and chlorophyll accumulation. Hormones have
been implicated in the control of these processes in de-etiolating seedlings. However, the mechanisms by
which the phytochromes regulate vegetative development in more mature plants are less well understood.
Pea (Pisum sativum) mutant plants lacking phytochromes A and B, the two phytochromes present in this
species, develop severe defects later in development, including short, thick, distorted internodes and reduced
leaf expansion, chlorophyll content and CAB gene transcript level. Studies presented here indicate that many
of these defects in phyA phyB mutant plants appear to be due to elevated ethylene production, and suggest
that an important role of the phytochromes in pea is to restrict ethylene production to a level that does not
inhibit vegetative growth. Mutant phyA phyB plants produce significantly more ethylene than WT plants, and
application of an ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor rescued many aspects of the phyA phyB mutant phenotype.
This deregulation of ethylene production in phy-deficient plants appears likely to be due, at least in part, to the
elevated transcript levels of key ethylene-biosynthesis genes. The phytochrome A photoreceptor appears to
play a prominent role in the regulation of ethylene production, as phyA, but not phyB, single-mutant plants
also exhibit a phenotype consistent with elevated ethylene production. Potential interactions between
ethylene and secondary plant hormones in the control of the phy-deficient mutant phenotype were explored,
revealing that ethylene may inhibit stem elongation in part by reducing gibberellin levels.

Item Type:

Article

Journal or Publication Title:

The Plant Journal

Page Range:

pp. 911-921

ISSN:

0960-7412

Identification Number - DOI:

doi: 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2006.02754.x

Additional Information:

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